The Udhagamandalam Municipality (UMC) said that efforts were under way to prevent a repeat of the series of incidents that could have led to the death of an adult tiger near Parsons Valley in Udhagamandalam last week.
A piece of blade was found in the tiger’s stomach and it was also infected with tapeworms. Conservationists and Forest Department officials believe that the factors that caused the carnivore’s death could have been due to the Theetukkal dumpyard, and the ease with which animals, especially herbivores, can enter and exit the yard, feeding on garbage scraps, and eventually having a huge impact on the food chain.
A top Forest official said that they have already planned to write to the District Collector and the Municipality to put up a fence, so that herbivores, especially Sambar deer and wild boar, do not enter the dumpyard.
Local residents said that though the National Green Tribunal’s order had clearly stated that open dumping should be stopped at Theetukkal, they regularly spot vehicles belonging to the Municipality dumping wet waste openly inside the dumpyard. “Not only do we see deer and wild boar, a variety of birds, including kites and even Woolly-necked storks come to feed at the dumpyard,” said R. Murugan, a local resident who has been keeping tabs on the wildlife seen during the day at Theetukkal. “Workers have also spotted leopards there on a few occasions, possibly coming to prey on wild boar,” he added.
P. Pandiya Narayan, UMC Commissioner, said that though it would take some time to put up a fence around the dumpyard, the Municipality, along with the District Collector, was already working towards a solution that would solve the problem permanently. “We have stopped open dumping of waste, and biomining would also be started soon, so we can remove the waste that has accumulated at the dumpyard,” he said.
